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Before AppleScript Studio appeared on the scene in early December 2001, Late Night Software's Script Debugger was the only AppleScript development environment for Mac OS X. Script Debugger 2 led the pack with a powerful Explorer view and the ability to handle scripts larger than 32K, and version 3.0.1 sports many improvements, including the ability to break on exceptions (to stop a script's execution) and enhanced Script Error dialog boxes. The handy Script Manifest tool allows you to identify every scripting addition and application a given script references.
Also new are the Expressions window and Console palette, which allow you to execute code against a currently running script. Using these two features, you can check and modify a script's progress. AppleScript can be difficult to learn, and Script Debugger 3.0.1 includes a JavaScript OSA, which allows you to use that language instead of AppleScript.
The new version doesn't bridge every gap, though. Late Night confirms that, due to a bug, you still can't script Microsoft Word or Excel in OS 9 and earlier. However, this bug has been fixed for Office v. X apps.
Macworld's Buying Advice
With its helpful new features and ability to script OS X, Script Debugger 3.0.1 is an improvement on a great development environment.
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